WASHINGTON - Think Congress doesn't do anything? Why, they write bills. And bills. And bills.

Members introduced a record 7,014 pieces of legislation in 2003, according to the Resume of Congressional Activity, published on the last day of the session, Dec. 15.

Tops among the Tristate delegation: Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine, with 38 bills and resolutions, including measures about Haiti, stalking awareness month and infrared transmitters.

DeWine's four nonbinding resolutions, including one honoring the late Cleveland Browns owner Al Lerner, all passed the Senate. As for his bills, which are harder to pass, two have been signed into law on their own.

Spokeswoman Amanda Flaig said other bills, or parts of them, had been thrown in with other legislation President Bush signed.

Lowest in number of bills among the delegation was Rep. John Boehner and Rep. Ken Lucas, both with three.

Lucas, a Democrat who represents Northern Kentucky, may have tied for last in the delegation. But the three bills is triple the number of bills he introduced in the 2001-02 session of Congress.

Boehner is something of a surprise: Committee chairmen often amass bills by seizing proposals from those on their committee. The West Chester Republican chairs the House Education and the Workforce Committee.

"Don't forget that behind the scenes, it's him and his staff doing the planning and crafting of the legislation," Boehner spokesman Steve Forde said. "Essentially, he doesn't believe 'introducing' legislation for the sake of introducing it is an effective way to legislate. Look at the number of guys around here who drop a bill knowing full well it will never see the light of day, but do so just to get out a press release."

And one other bill of note: Rep. Mike Turner, whose district includes northern Warren County, introduced the first bill of his career in March. It may have made a mark - as the most boring bill of the session.

It was H.R.1346 : "To amend the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to provide an additional function of the administrator for federal procurement policy relating to encouraging federal procurement policies that enhance energy efficiency."

GUANTANAMO BAR ASSOCIATION: The fate of alleged al-Qaida terrorists the United States is holding in Guantanamo will depend in large part on a 1973 graduate of the University of Cincinnati Law School.

Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld on Wednesday named John D. Altenburg Jr. to oversee the military tribunals, which will begin soon. Altenburg served for 28 years as a lawyer in the Army, retiring as a major general in 2002.

HOLLYWOOD MONEY: The Hollywood newspaper Variety reports that George Clooney will raise some Hollywood money for dad Nick Clooney's Kentucky congressional race with a fund-raiser in Los Angeles sometime this year.

But if Republicans want to use Hollywood money as an issue, they might want to check out where Rep. Rob Portman was Dec. 4.

He was a featured guest at a Republican fund-raiser featuring Hollywood moguls from Disney, Time Warner, and Universal. The event at L.A.'s Regency Club raised $100,000 for the National Republican Congressional Committee, NRCC spokesman Carl Forti said.

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Carl Weiser covers Washington news for the Enquirer. E-mail cweiser@gannett.com